The causes, management and outcome of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage in an Indian hospital.

Four hundred and eight consecutive patients with upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage, admitted to a large hospital in India over the 5-year period 1976-81, were studied prospectively. The mean age was 41 years, the male: female ratio was 3: 1, causes of bleeding were oesophageal varices in 45.5 per cent, duodenal ulcer in 25 per cent, gastric ulcer in 5 per cent and gastritis in 8.5 per cent. One hundred and twelve patients had operations with on overall mortality of 20 (18 per cent). Thirty-three (11 per cent) of the unoperated patients died. Eighty-seven per cent of patients left hospital alive and 76 per cent returned to their former way of life. Patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in North India are mainly young males, nearly half bleeding from oesophageal varices, and have a moderately good prognosis.